Running Away From Others
by Sunlight through Leaves
Summary: Sequel to 'Running Into Each Other.' Kakashi and Iruka are together now, but what happens when no one else knows? What happens when everyone else wants to find out. Fluff and sillyness [Kakairu and slight very very slight Sasunaru]
1. Team 7's Plan

Title: Running Away From Others

Anime: Naruto

Pairings: Kakairu (of course) and Sasunaru if you squint and really, really read between the lines

One of the many (upcoming) sequels to 'Running Into Each Other.' I had a lot I wanted to add, but I was afraid that if I let it go on to long, I'd never get to the end! So here are some short additions…

Weeeelll, Kakashi and Iruka are together, but what happens when no one else knows about it?….Read on to find out!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sakura walked slowly between Sasuke and Naruto. Her head was down, but she kept stealing glances over at their teacher. _Kakashi-sensei's been acting strange all morning. I wonder what's going on._ As she watched, Kakashi looked quickly back over his shoulder at Konoha as it shrank into the distance. At least it looked like he was looking at Konoha. For all Sakura could tell, he might have just been checking to make sure no one was following them. But Sakura was almost positive that she didn't feel anyone else's presence, and Kakashi'd been looking back at the village ever since they left.

She jabbed a surreptitious elbow into Sasuke's side, knowing better than to try the same thing with Naruto. When Sasuke glared at her, she jerked her head towards Kakashi, trying to communicate her question. Sasuke snorted almost silently and turned away from her again. Sakura sighed and resumed walking. _Maybe I'm just being suspicious for no reason._

When they made camp that night, Kakashi volunteered to take the first watch, disappearing into the darkness. Sakura waited until his presence had vanished, "What's up with Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hn." Sasuke was studying the trees, waiting for any sign of the Jounin returning, which would mean the end of Sakura's babbling.

Naruto looked completely confused, though that wasn't very different from any normal situation. "Whaddya mean, Sakura-chan?"

"Well, one, he kept looking back at the village." Sakura held enumerated her reasons on her fingers. "Two, he's been showing up a lot sooner than he has in the past." She paused as Naruto pulled a face.

"He's always late!"

"Yeah, he's still late, but he's not as late as he usually is. Three, he keeps giving us excuses that have to do with a dolphin."

Sasuke snorted. He'd noticed Kakashi's strange behavior as well and had seriously considered broaching the subject with his team. But that would have destroyed the reputation of the uncaring, unemotional jerk that he'd been cultivating for so many years.

Naruto still looked blank.

"You know what I think?" Sakura whispered gleefully.

Nartuo shook his head; Sasuke continued to stare off into the trees, but she saw his ear twitch.

Sakura's voice dropped even lower. "I think Kakashi-sensei's in love."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Iruka resisted the urge to slam his head down on the desk in the mission room. _Maybe,_ he though idly, _if I hit it hard enough, I might pass out. Then they'll leave me alone._

The mission room was not the world's most exciting place to work. In fact, it was one of the singularly, most mind-numbingly boring places to work. Iruka passed his time grading the ever-present papers that followed him around thanks to his other job. Some ninjas slept, some read, some practiced ninjutsu (though they usually did that when the Hokage wasn't around. The Sandaime had pitched a fit when a poorly aimed fire jutsu had charred his favorite chair and had banned the practice of jutsu's). A few ninjas used the time to torture their fellow workers. Unfortunately for Iruka, he happened to be working with one of those ninja. And he was Genma's favorite target. And Genma was really good at getting the Hokage involved in his 'torment Iruka' schemes.

"….I'm telling you." Genma was saying. " You spend way too much time with those papers, Iruka-sensei. What we need to find you is a good girlfriend to….distract you." Genma grinned wickedly at him around the senbon between his teeth as he finished.

Iruka felt his face turn several different shades of red.

"Actually," The Hokage jumped in, though his voice was much less malicious than Genma's had been. "I think Genma-san has a point. Papers just aren't the same as human company." The Hokage's eyes glinted, suddenly. "You know, I have a granddaughter who would be just your type…."

Iruka dropped his head, ears burning furiously, and tried to concentrate on the essay in front of him. He would have succeeded, too, if he hadn't realized that Genma and the Sandaime were setting up a blind date for him. But, even though they started discussing times and places, Iruka still (barely) managed to ignore them. It was only when they started talking about the jutsu's needed to ensure that Iruka showed up, that Iruka finally lost his temper.

"Look!" He shouted slamming both his hands down on the desk. "I'm already seeing someone, so drop it!"

The surprise on the other men's faces lasted for about .25 seconds. Then the gazes turned evil again.

"Oh you are?" Genma practically purred. "And who would that be?"

Iruka gapped at them, trying to figure out where this conversation had taken such a dangerous turn for the worse. As his brain struggled to come up with a believable answer, his eye caught the clock on the wall. "G-g-gomen, Hokage-sama, Genma-san. I…class….I'm going to be late." He grabbed his papers and bag and fled the room, hoping against hope that this would be forgotten by the next time he ran into Genma and the Sandaime.

Said men were watching the Chuunin's rapidly retreating back. The senbon twitched between Genma's lips as his expression changed from surprised to grinning, and he quickly gathered his stuff, heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" The Hokage asked.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I want to find out who's managed to break through Iruka-kun's ice wall."

"You're shift's not over for another fifteen minutes."

"If I tell you when I find out, will you let me go." Genma chuckled when the Hokage nodded and headed out the door.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sakura bit her lip as they headed out the next morning. They'd only been walking for a few minutes before Naruto put their plan into action. Naruto'd refused to believe that Kakashi was in love. He'd pointed out that the only things Kakashi loved were those stupid Icha Icha books. He argued with her for a least a half an hour before Sasuke'd decked him and suggested that they just ask Kakashi.

Both Sakura and Naruto had stared at him like he'd lost his mind. And then proceeded to come up with an elaborate and utterly ridiculous plan to get their answer.

Naruto heaved an enormous sigh, "Neeee, Kakashi-sensei?" He whined, putting on his best little kid face. "I'm bored. Can't we do something?"

Kakashi just glanced at him, then continued walking.

"I know," Sakura chimed in, a little too quickly. _Are they actually agreeing with each other_. Kakashi briefly tried to figure out if enemy nin had switched either Sakura or Naruto during the night, then came to the conclusion that they were plotting something and decided to go with the flow until he figured out where they were going with this. "Let's play a game." Sakura finished, smiling happily up at their sensei.

"Hn." Sasuke muttered. At least he didn't seem any different.

"What kind of game?" Kakashi asked, warily.

"Truth." Sakura declared.

"Isn't it usually truth or dare?" Kakashi wondered vaguely.

"Nope." Naruto added. "This game's different. Someone asks a question and if you don't answer truthfully, you get to make them do something." Naruto grinned as he finished.

"Maaa, And how do you know if they're telling the truth?"

"C'mon, Kakashi-sensei, you must know a jutsu that makes people tell the truth? Or does something if they don't?" Naruto looked very hopeful.

Something in the back of Kakashi's mind warned him that this was a VERY bad idea. But he figured the worst they could ask him was what was under his mask. And he already had a truthful answer for that. His face. So he shrugged and formed the seals quickly. "Alright, here's the deal. If you lie, you glow blue."

"Oi, can I try it out?" Naruto shouted. Kakashi shrugged. Naruto turned to Sakura, "Sakura-chan, I love you! See, you never believed me before, but now you have to, cause I'm telling the…" He trailed off as he noticed a faint blue glow around his body.

One of Kakashi's eyebrows arched upwards. Even Sasuke looked surprised.

"Ano, Kakashi-sensei, I think this jutsu's backwards."

Kakashi shook his head. "No, Naruto, it's working fine." _Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. _ And he settled in to watch his team fight out their differences.

"Wait, Sakura-chan, who do you love?" Naruto was very confused at this point. _I don't love Sakura-chan? Then who?_

"Sasuke-kun." _Duh._ Both boys and their sensei waited for a second before realizing that Sakura was telling the truth. Inner-Sakura punched the air happily. _See! I'm not confused like Naruto._ Then she remembered their plan, "What about you, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi stopped walking, but managed to smile at his team before answering. "No one."

"You know," Naruto said slyly. "Blue's kinda a good color on you."

"Who is it?" Sakura yelped.

"A person." The blue light vanished.

Sakura ground her teeth together, before realizing the solution. "Ninja?"

"No." The blue light returned.

"Hah!" Naruto yelled, catching on. "She's a ninja!"

"Jounin?"

"Yes." The blue light remained stubbornly in place.

Sakura chuckled evily. "Chuunin."

Kakashi sighed. "Yes, and we're done playing now." He raised his hands to form the seals to end the jutsu, but Sasuke and Naruto jumped him, effectively pinning him down to the ground. Sakura started listing off any female chuunin she could think of, and Kakashi answered no to every one of them. And the blue light didn't return.

Sakura growled under her breath as she rapidly ran out of options. Sasuke watched to whole process from where he was sitting on Kakashi's feet and spoke up as Sakura paused for breath. "Is your love female?"

Naruto and Sakura started at him. Kakashi turned a death glare on Sasuke, but the young Uchiha folded his arms and glared right back. "No." Kakashi snarled it out, then whipped his arms up, dislodging his team and vanished from sight.

Kakashi dusted off his sleeves. _Stupid team. No need to dig into my personal life like that. They're going to regret this!_

The members of Team 7 looked at each other for a long time before Naruto spoke up. "Kakashi-sensei's gay?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ahhhh….like it? Hate it? I'm still not sure what I think about it, so let me know, should I continue or let this fizzle? Sorry if other characters are OOC, I don't write them very often.

Sunlight through Leaves


	2. Genma's Plan

Wheeeeeee! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Iruka crawled out of bed and slammed his hand down on the poor, beaten-up alarm clock that rested on his bedside table. He'd spent most of yesterday trying to avoid running into Genma or the Hokage. As he'd made his way home (through the most unlikely route he could think of), he'd been almost positive that a faint flicker of chakra was following him around. The chakra had remained as he'd gotten ready for bed, and it had taken him forever to fall asleep with it hovering outside his window. _I hate my life._

He fumbled his way down the hall, one hand rubbing at his eyes as he tried to wake himself up. _Another day, another attempt at teaching chakra control to mini-nins._ He turned on the shower and climbed slowly in, stretching under the water until all of his joints popped. It was a few seconds before the fog in his mind cleared enough that he realized that faint chakra signature was in the shower…with him.

Iruka shrieked and leapt back against the far wall, hands dropping to cover essential bits.

"Oi." The little tan dog said from where he was sitting at the far end of the shower.

"W-w-w…" Iruka choked and spluttered, "What the HELL are you doing here!?"

Pakkun shrugged, "Spying for Genma-san."

Iruka stared at the nin-dog, waiting for his brain to catch up with the dog's reasoning. "You're…spying….for Genma-san?"

Pakkun nodded, jumping down lightly onto the shower floor and walking forward until he could stick his head under the water, "Getting clean is just a bonus."

"But you're spying for Genma-san." Iruka ground the words out between clenched teeth.

The nin-dog tilted his head back until he could look up at Iruka. "You sound like a broken record, Iruka-kun."

Iruka closed his eyes and counted to ten. Several times. It didn't work. "YOU ALREADY KNOW WHO I'M DATING!"

The dog shrugged again. "Yeah, but he promised me a bag of treats if I did it."

"And how _exactly_ is he going to know if you spy or not?"

Another shrug. "He won't." Iruka could have sworn that the little brown dog at his feet grinned up at him. "And it's just so much fun to embarrass you…."

Pakkun was tossed out of the shower and face first onto the rug. He snickered to himself as he shook off the last of the water that had not been dislodged by his flight out of the shower. Iruka buried his face under the stream of water, his expression saying so clearly: _I hate my life._

OOOOOOOOOOO

Iruka sensed a rapidly waving hand behind his back as he tried to give his lecture about why chakra control was so important. He'd been ignoring it for the past five minutes, but the waving was getting more and more frantic, and Iruka didn't want to have to deal with a mess in the classroom because he didn't let one of his students go to the bathroom. "Yes." He said as he turned around, but then trailed off, glaring at the student in the front row with his hand up and his eyes innocently wide. "…."

"Iruka-sensei!" The hand waved a little bit faster.

Iruka planted both of his hands on his hips and glared at the student. "I don't remember seeing you in my class before."

"Ano-sa, ano-sa, Iruka-sensei." The kid yelped it out, ignoring Iruka's statement. "Is it true you have a girlfriend?"

With a snarl, Iruka grabbed the eraser and flung in at the kid (but not before he added some chakra to it), effectively dispelling the henge and revealing a very pleased looking Jounin squeezed into one of the desks in the front row, senbon ticking between his lips. Iruka drew in a breath to yell at Genma, but was interrupted by squeals from his class.

"Iruka-sensei has a girlfriend?"

"Kaaaawaaaaiiii."

"I bet she's real pretty!"

"Ne, Iruka-sensei, can she come visit us?"

All of this from the girls. The boys were glaring at him, as if he'd betrayed them by becoming entangled with one of the annoying, cootie-carrying members of the opposite sex. Iruka ducked his head, turning several different shades of red, and briefly wondered how boys of the class would react if he told that he hadn't deserted them, since he had no romantic contact with any members of the opposite sex. _Oh, god. Their parents would kill me._

After a few minutes of clenching and unclenching his fists, Iruka managed to bring his emotions under control, and, when he looked back at his class, his face was a slightly more normal color. "Class." He clenched his jaw. "I'm going to step out for a moment. If _anyone_ so much as twitches while I'm gone, you're all getting F's. Got it?" His class nodded mutely. Genma grinned up at him, looking for all the world like he was completely innocent and was just sitting around enjoying the show.

Iruka snagged the Jounin by the back of his vest and dragged him out into the hall. Genma freed himself from Iruka's grasp easily and faced the Chuunin, watching the other man's eyes darken and his face take on the most interesting shade of red. _5….4…3…2…1…_

"YOU….YOU….YOU BASTARD!" Iruka finally exploded, looking like he was about to punch Genma. "Can't you just stay out of my business?"

Genma's eyebrows waggled up and down suggestively, "I could if you tell me who you're dating…."

Iruka let out an unintelligible growl, threw open the door of his classroom, and stomped back inside. As the door slide shut, Genma heard him snap, "I thought I said no moving…!"

Genma whistled quietly as he walked away, inordinately pleased with himself. By tonight, all of those student's parents would know about Iruka's girlfriend. Now he just had to spread the word throughout the various nins. He figured, if enough people knew, that Iruka would spill to someone, and the good old grapevine would bring it back to him. A few people shied away from him as he strode through the halls with an evil smile on his face. Something about a special Jounin grinning from ear to ear just made people really nervous.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Iruka stood frozen in the center of the street like a deer in the headlights. Several people around him were chuckling. The little old lady that he brought his groceries from was shooting him sympathetic looks from outside her storefront, then turning to giggle with her friend. Iruka fervently wished that he could think of a jutsu that allowed him to disappear into the ground, but it wasn't forthcoming.

"THIS IS TRULY THE GLORY OF THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!" Konoha's blue beast was extolling at the top of his lungs, tears of joy streaming down his face as he advanced on the hapless Iruka. "I AM JOYFUL BEYOND ALL MEASUREMENT THAT YOU HAVE FOUND SOMEONE TO GIVE YOUR HEART TO….." Gai carried on like this for some time, but Iruka just ducked his head and closed his ears and hoped that when he looked up again, Gai would have disappeared.

No. such. luck.

"IRUKA-SENSEI. YOU MUST TELL ME WHO THIS MAN IS WHO HAS STOLEN YOUR HEART!" That got Iruka's attention, and the attention of most of the people watching from the sidelines. A few of the women tittered to each other, and most of the men just stared at Iruka.

Iruka sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. _I hate my life. _"Gai-sensei. What make you think that my significant other is male?" The words were said very slowly and carefully so as not to suggest what the answer should be.

Gai struck pose #42 (thumbs up, twinkling smile, and hand on hip….very similar to many other Gai poses, but it can be distinguished by people who actually study Gai's poses. Iruka, of course, was not one of those people, so the subtle nuances in the pose went right over his head). "BECAUSE I AM A MODERN NINJA AND DO NOT BELIEVE THAT LOVE SHOULD BE BOUND BY GENDER!" Before Iruka could ask, 'but why me,' Gai continued. "AND BECAUSE THE GLOW THAT EXUDES FROM YOUR YOUTHFUL FACE TELLS ME THAT YOU ARE AS MODERN AS ME."

Iruka just stared at him, slack-jawed. Even though he'd managed to translate the sentence into non-Gai speak, he still couldn't quite believe that Gai was claiming to have gaydar.

"Well, Iruka-sensei? Do you have a boyfriend?" One of the women called out, after being edged on by her friends.

Something inside Iruka snapped. "Alright, yes! I. Have. A. Boyfriend." _Got a problem with it?_

The tears streaming from Gai's eyes doubled in intensity, if that was possible. "TRUE LOVE REIGNS!" Iruka seriously thought about grabbing his kunai and driving it in under a rib. Anything might be better than listening to more of Gai talking about shouen-ai relationships. "IRUKA-SENSEI, YOU MUST TELL ME HIS NAME!"

"Why?" Iruka growled.

"YOU ARE A TRUE RARITY, IRUKA-SENSEI. YOUR YOUTHFUL VIGOR INSPIRES ALL THE STUDENTS OF THE VILLAGE TO MAKE THE MOST OF THEIR SPRINGTIME OF LIFE!" Gai paused briefly for breath, but not long enough for Iruka to get a word in edgewise. "AND I MUST CHALLENGE YOUR BOYFRIEND TO COMBAT TO MAKE SURE HE IS WORTHY OF YOU. THIS IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME THAT I WILL SUSPEND MY COMPETITIONS WITH THE ETERNAL RIVAL, KAKASHI, UNTIL I CAN DETERMINE WHETHER YOUR BOYFRIEND IS SUITABLE OR NOT!" Gai finished with pose #35. As explained before, the nuances were lost on Iruka.

It didn't help that Iruka was trying very hard not to burst out laughing in Gai's face. He almost wanted to tell Gai that he was dating Kakashi just to see Gai's expression. Iruka bent his legs slightly and shot straight up into the air, landing gracefully on a roof and speeding away across the houses of Konoha before his desire to torment Gai got the better of his good judgment.

As he dove into his apartment and slammed the door shut, Pakkun looked up at him from where he was curled on Iruka's couch. "You alright?" Pakkun paused for a second, as if debating on whether he wanted to actually tell the Chuunin this. "Cause Kakashi'd kill me if I let anything happen to you."

Iruka had collapsed onto the couch, his head tilted back against the cushions. Pakkun's comment, however, made him sit up. "What?"

Pakkun twisted to stare out the window, ignoring Iruka's question.

"Pakkun, why, exactly, have you been following me around?"

"Genma…" Iruka's snort cut him off. "Alright, Kakashi asked me to check in on you while he was away. Genma found me later and asked me to spy…."

"Well, I'm okay." Pakkun didn't move, just sat there glaring at his feet. Iruka felt his lips twist up into the first real smile he'd had all day. Pakkun rose to his feet, turned so that his back was to the Chuunin and flopped back down again, giving Iruka the proverbial cold shoulder. Iruka reached out and gently dropped his hand onto Pakkun's head, scratching lightly behind the ears. "I miss him too."

"….."

"Did you want to say something?"

"…you tell anyone about this, you die."

"Yeah, well, if you tell Genma who I'm dating, I'll personally see to it that you get neutered."

"I won't tell if you won't."

"Deal." Iruka's smile spread as Pakkun wiggled over until he was snuggled up against Iruka's hip. The Chuunin reached over the edge of the couch and rescued his lesson plan for tomorrow, determined to go over it before he fell asleep.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Kakashi was deliberately avoiding his team. He was moving at the same speed as them, just remaining hidden in the surrounding forest so that they wouldn't spot him and ask him awkward questions. When they stopped for the night, he remained up in the tree branches, watching them set up camp. Sakura was alternating between whining that he shouldn't just go around deserting them and speculating on who he was dating.

Naruto stuck out his lower lip. "I don't care who pervert-sensei is dating." But Kakashi could tell he was lying. As he and Sakura argued about whether it could be Kotetsu or Izumo (Kakashi shuddered inwardly at the thought), Sasuke slipped away from them and made his way out into the forest, until he was almost directly below Kakashi.

"You should really tell Naruto before Sakura figures it out." Sasuke said quietly, but loud enough that he knew Kakashi could hear him. "Iruka-sensei means a lot to him, and I don't know how Naruto will react if he thinks that Iruka-sensi's been hiding something from him." With that, Sasuke turned and rejoined the rest of Team 7. Kakashi leaned back in the saddle of the tree, pulling Icha Icha out of his pocket and puzzling over two things: 1, how long Sasuke'd known, and 2, whether or not he should follow the genin's advice.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Maaaaaa, second chapter. This is for all the people who are waiting; I hope I didn't disappoint! Sorry about Gai, I tried to write him well, but I'm not sure if I succeed. It amused me tho…..Aaaanyway, you know the drill, read and REVIEW. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaase let me know what you think, since it inspires me to write more (and makes what I write much more enjoyable)!

Sunlight Through Leaves.


	3. Run Away!

Not betaed, don't have time. Any mistakes are my fault, just try and ignore them unless they're really grievous, then tell me and I will fix them D

Coverart for this, pretty crappy, but I enjoyed it (mwhahaaha, poor Iruka)

(replace spaces with periods to resolve)

http://www deviantart com/deviation/52153682

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As the sun was just barely clearing the horizon, the members of team 7 stood (sort of) and got ready to go. Sakura scrubbed at her eyes with both hands; she still wasn't used to sleeping on the ground. Not to mention that she and Naruto were a little worried about being by themselves since they didn't know where Kakashi was during the night. Naruto had fallen asleep where he was standing, his head dropping onto Sasuke's shoulder, mouth hanging open and drool starting to ooze out of the corner. Sasuke's expression was stuck somewhere between disgust and vague amusement…for about a half a second, then he stepped sideways, and Naruto fell face first onto the ground.

"Ow, ow, ow." Naruto glared up at Sasuke, rubbing his head for a few minutes before the sequence of events connected. "SASUKE-TEME!"

Sasuke just twisted his head away and ignored him.

Sakura was so caught up with trying to think of something to say to Sasuke that she couldn't quite stifle her scream when Kakashi landed between them. Naruto and Sakura's faces lit up at the sight of their sensei, but their faces fell just as quickly when they realized what was going on. Kakashi was standing calmly between them with his nose buried in Icha Icha. His free hand held up the bells that had been the bane of their existence during the Genin exam.

"WHAT?!" Naruto shrieked

"Here's the deal." Kakashi spoke quietly without lifting his gaze from his book. "If you can get a bell from me, I'll tell you who I'm dating."

Naruto and Sakura looked at him, then back at each other, then back at him, then…."GET HIM!!"

Kakashi vanished out from the midst of his team. _Well, their teamwork's certainly improved._ He could only hope that this new mission would distract them from thinking about who he was dating until they got back to Konoha. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Sasuke was right about Naruto. However, Kakashi just couldn't confess to the kyuubi boy, especially when he figured this kind of confession would probably get him kicked in the balls for perverting Iruka. If they could make it back to Konoha, he could confess with Iruka, instead of by himself. _Chicken._ His inner voice muttered. He rolled his eyes and pointedly ignored it.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Iruka rounded the corner with his bag clutched tightly under his elbow, praying fervently that the mission room would be empty when he arrived. Between last night and this morning, the entire village had found out about his boyfriend, and he was stopped so many times on the way into the academy that he'd been 20 minutes late. He had a horrible feeling that the mission room would be full of Chuunin and Jounin with no reports to turn in, only questions about his romantic life. And if nothing else…_Right now, I'd give anything to not see Genma in this room….._ The door creaked ominously as he leaned his weight against it.

Light glinted off a polished senbon held between grinning teeth, and Iruka's heart dropped, settling somewhere in the vicinity of his ankles. _Oh…no….._ "G-g-genma-san…?"

"You really are something else, Iruka-kun." Genma eased his butt off the desk and moved slowly across the room. Iruka suddenly realized what it's like to be a stalked by a predator, and he felt very, very sorry for all the helpless prey animals out there. "You haven't spilled the information to anyone."

"It's my own business." Iruka was hoping that the words would come out with some force, but they barely made it out through his rapidly constricting throat, and they had no impact on Genma's forward motion.

"But I thought for sure that you would crack under the onslaught that is Gai." Genma shook his head slowly, the expression on his face resembling admiration. If it were any other situation, Iruka would have enjoyed that, but not now. "You realize you left me no other option."

Iruka turned and fled. His bag snagged on the door handle and ripped open, papers flying in all directions. Iruka was so focused on escaping the special Jounin that he didn't even pause when he dropped all of his students' assignments. Genma sprinted through the debris, hot in pursuit.

One minute Kotetsu was contemplating the stack of books he'd set down on the bench, the next, his arms were full of his fellow Chuunin. Kotetsu's face lit up as he realized who it was. "Hey, Iruka-kun! I heard you're dating someone, and….oooof" He trailed off as Iruka shoved off his chest and tore off. "What the….?" He never finished since he narrowly avoided get flattened by Genma, who was right on Iruka's tail.

"Drop it, Genma-san!"

"Not a chance, Iruka-kun!"

OOOOOOOOOOO

Kakashi had to admit that he was impressed by how much Team 7 had improved. He hadn't expected Sasuke to join in the chase, but he figured that the Uchiha couldn't pass up an opportunity to prove that he could actually win a bell. Kakashi dropped from the trees to the ground as Sasuke's fire jutsu blasted through the branches behind him and heaved an enormous sigh as he shoved Icha Icha into his pocket. They were serious enough that he would't be able to read and distract them at the same time. _Damn._

The Jounin was ridiculously relieved to see the gates of Konoha, and he sped through them with one thought on his mind. _Find Iruka._

OOOOOOOOOOO

"Stop that Chuunin!" Unable to catch an embarrassment-motivated Iruka, Genma resorted to recruiting the onlookers.

Iruka yelped and dove under grasping hands, sliding around the corner and praying that the tangle of bodies would slow Genma down a little bit. He couldn't outrun the Jounin for much longer. _Why is the whole town obsessed with my love life!?_

OOOOOOOOOOO

Kakashi rounded the corner and ran into someone. One hand went around the other's waist, and the other clapped over his mouth. Kakashi turned quickly and dragged the unlucky bystander into a neighboring alley. Team 7 came into view at the end of the alley, then Genma, and they just stared at each other, looking vaguely confused.

As a gentle finger tapped on Kakashi's hand, the Jounin was just starting to realize that the body pulled tight against his chest felt incredibly familiar. He released his hand and twisted his head so that he could look down at his 'captive.' Iruka's hair was half out of it's ponytail, thanks to Kakashi's assault; his face was flushed and his clothing askew. The Chuunin was panting slightly from the run, and he looked very, very, very appealing. Kakashi's brain went into overdrive, and he did the only rational thing he could think of at the time. He pounced.

Iruka's vest disappeared into the back corner of the alley, and his hitai-ate followed quickly. The small part of his brain that was offering some protests ceased to work as maskless lips touched his, then pressed harder, deepening the kiss. He'd missed Kakashi, and this was…this was….

Iruka's brain was abruptly jerked back to Earth as cold hands slid under his shirt."Ka-ka-kakashi!" Iruka tried desperately to form a coherent sentence, but Kakashi was doing something with his neck that just…_Uhhh_. "We're…alley….we shouldn't….mmph!" Kaakshi effectively silenced him by turning his attention away from the Chuunin's throat and back to his lips.

It slowly penetrated into Iruka's fogged mind that it was utterly quiet in the alley. Too quiet. Absolutely silent. Iruka's eyes flew open, staring past Kakashi's bushy hair at the four people gathered in the alley. Genma had a leer plastered all over his face. Sakura was bright scarlet and looking anywhere but at Kakashi and Iruka. Naruto….Naruto looked like he was going to explode, and Iruka pushed frantically against Kakashi's chest, trying to force the Jounin off him.

"YOU!!" Naruto finally snapped, "PERVERT-SENSEI! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO IRUKA-SENSEI??!!!"

Sakura snapped out her trance and punched him in the arm. "Naruto! Don't swear!" Then she meeped, blushed and ducked her head again.

By this time, Kakashi had released Iruka and turned around with his mask squarely in place. Despite the fact that the whole situation had Iruka blushing and incredibly embarrassed, Kakashi simply smiled at the audience; his visible eye curved up in a happy arc. His spread his hands, standing and giving Iruka a chance to straighten his shirt and hair. "Maaaa, Naruto…." He yelped in surprise when the Kyuubi boy gave him a swift kick in the shin. _Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought it might be._

"Pervert! You've corrupted Iruka-sensei!" Naruto pointed a scandalized finger at him.

"Corrupted? You dog."

"You're not helping, Genma-san." Kakashi snarled through clenched teeth.

Naruto whirled on the senbon-chewing Jounin. "You support this?!"

"They're grown men…"

"Iruka-sensei's being taken advantage of!"

"Really?" Genma turned back to Kakashi, the leer back on his face.

"Oi…!" Naruto started.

"Alright. That's. Enough." Silence fell in the alley as Iruka's voice cut across the argument. "Genma-san, be quiet. You're not helping." Genma resisted the urge to hang his head in shame. _Who knew Iruka-kun could be this scary? No wonder he can control the hooligans at the academy._ Iruka rounded on Naruto. "Naruto!"

"But, Iruka-sensei!"

"What, exactly, makes you think I'm being taken advantage of?"

"What?…I…it…" Naruto spluttered.

"You think I can't take care of myself?"

Naruto's eyes became huge. "Yes! No!…I…"

Iruka's stance relaxed as he shifted gears from 'angry teacher' to 'older brother,' and he sighed. "Naruto." He knelt down in front of the younger boy. "Kakashi-kun and I are happy. No one's taking advantage of anyone. Okay?"

Before Naruto could respond, a squeal rang out from behind Sasuke and Genma. "Kaaawaaaaaaiiiiiii!" Sakura clapped a hand over her mouth. "Gomen." She'd apparently gotten over her embarrassment, but she blushed again as the five men turned to stare at her. "I..it just…Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei…really kawaii." She trailed off at the end as the men continued to stare at her.

Naruto studied Iruka's face closely. "You really mean it?"

Iruka gave him a lopsided smile, his eyes curling up. "Really, really."

An awkward silence fell over the alley as they realized that Iruka was still partially in a state of undress. "Well." Genma broke the silence, grinning happily at his two friends. "I think I know a few people who are going to want to know about this." He clapped his hand together and started to move off.

"Ano-sa." Iruka interrupted, blushing slightly as he toyed with the loose ends of his hair. "I know I can't stop you from spreading this, but do me a favor." Genma looked curious. "Don't tell Gai-sensei." Iruka smiled. "Please?"

Genma couldn't help but smile back. "I can do that."

"Thanks."

Naruto toyed with the edge of his jacket, trying to decide what to do. He jumped when a hand came down on his shoulder.

"C'mon, Naruto." Sasuke said, his expression remaining neutral as always. "I heard that there's a new flavor of ramen at Ichiraku."

Naruto's train of thought was successfully derailed, and his head whipped around to look at Sasuke so fast that he almost fell over. "What? Really?'

Iruka shot Kakashi a questioning look, but the Jounin just shrugged, clearly saying 'I'll explain later.'

As the members of Team 7 walked off in the direction of Ichiraku, Kakashi turned to watch Iruka rescue his vest from the ground in the far corner of the alley. As he was sliding his arms into the vest, the Chuunin noticed that the Jounin was staring at him. Predictably, Iruka blushed and ducked his head. "What is it, Kakashi."

The Jounin just shook his head slowly, amazement crossing his face. "I can't believe how you handled that." _And I'm so glad I didn't try to do that alone._

Iruka laughed. "Learning how to control the mini-nins does have its advantages." He slipped his arm through Kakashi's. "Dinner?"

"Sounds great."

"…."

"Hey, Iruka."

"Mmm."

"Why didn't you want them to tell Gai-san?"

His koi chuckled evilly, "You'll see."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Whew. One chapter left, I think. Not really sure if this is coming out all that well, so not sure if I'm going to continue it. I can't tell if this chapter lives up the first one (and I really really hope I haven't let down the people who are waiting on this story). R&R (and no, that doesn't mean rest and relax!).

sunlight through leaves


	4. Torturing Gai

Here it is, last chapter, I apologize for the wait, I've been swamped with work. I hope you enjoy it. I'm not sure it's nearly as good as the rest, but it's pretty amusing. At least the imagery is.

As always, not beta-d…don't know anyone who will, so forgive the mistakes

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kakashi stood next to Iruka, his hands clenched into fists, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from bursting out into gales of laughter.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!!!"

Beside him, Iruka snorted, and Kakashi almost lost it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Iruka was shaking with barely suppressed laughter.

"DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH THIS HAS EMOTIONALLY SCARRED OUR YOUTH?!!"

Neither of the two men really cared that the Sandaime was yelling at them (even though neither of them had ever heard the Sandaime yell, let alone raise his voice). Both of them were still wrapped up in the image that had confronted Iruka in the mission room this morning.

"DO YOU REALIZE THAT ROCK LEE IS COPYING HIS SENSEI?"

Kakashi choked. _Rock Lee was…._ That was news to him.

Suddenly, Iruka stopped shaking and pulled himself up straight, freezing his face in a solemn and apologetic expression. Kakashi felt the change and had a minor heart-attack, wondering if Iruka was really deserting him in his hour of need.

Iruka ducked his head, as if in shame, and bowed low to the Sandaime, "I am terribly sorry, Hokage-sama. This has clearly gone beyond the level of good-natured teasing, and I promise that I will never go this far again." Kakashi gapped at him, then sank into a bow, imitating his partner.

The Sandaime glared at both of them. "Umino-san." His voice was low and incredibly dangerous. "If anything like this happens again…." He trailed off.

"If anything like this happens again, I will personally fill my name out in the book as a missing-nin." Iruka finished for him, bowing lower.

Kakashi looked back and forth between Iruka and the Sandaime and finally raised his hand. "Maaa, me too."

Deadly silence descended in the room, and, after a few heartbeats, both Iruka and Kakashi looked up at the Sandaime, whose eyes narrowed dangerously. "GET OUT!"

The two men beat a hasty retreat, but just as the door swung closed behind them, they were sure that they heard a barely smothered laugh. They stood outside the Sandaime's office, starring at each other, then dissolved into helpless laughter. Kakashi wrapped his arms around Iruka's waist to keep the Chuunin from collapsing all the way to the floor, but leaned his head on his partner's back, tears streaming down his face and into his mask he was laughing so hard.

"Oh….my…god…." Iruka gasped. "I can't believe he actually….I didn't think he would actually…." His words were lost in laughter again.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_Very early that morning…….._

Kakashi crouched on the top of one of the adjoining buildings, watching a lithe black shadow slip across the roofs. _There's no way Iruka can get into Gai-san's place. No way._ He thought again about helping the Chuunin, but Iruka had insisted that it would be easier with one person than with two, and Kakashi was just going to have to trust him.

The black figure anchored his feet to the underneath side of the roof, inverting his body and peering in the window. A darker shadow hung from his shoulder, the backpack that held the goal of this little excursion.

Iruka slipped his fingers in the edge of the window, recognizing by feel the fine wires that would trigger alarms or traps if they were broken or cut, and he slid two kunai from his pouch, checking the blades to make sure that only the points were sharp. The kunai were slid in through the gap in the window and used to lift the wires out of the way, pinning them to the window frame. After easing the window open several more inches, Iruka shimmied his way inside, landing cat-silent on the floor of Gai's apartment. Thankfully, he wasn't met with any alarms, knives, or (perhaps the worst option) the unclothed blue beast of Konoha. _Glad I haven't lost my edge._

Iruka padded from one room to the next, looking for Gai's closet. He eased into Gai's bedroom, creeping around the end of the bed, barely breathing. When he could almost reach the closet, his foot came down on something that was definitely not a floor board. And it squeaked. Iruka froze, starring at the bed and hoping against hope that Gai wouldn't wake up. On the bed (under bright green sheets with orange-yellow stripes), Gai rolled over mumbling, '…must be cooler than eternal rival…" Iruka swallowed a snort, making a note to tell Kakashi about it when he got out of there. Then he reached down to retrieve the thing that had almost given him away. He picked up a small stuffed bear, dressed in Gai's uniform (complete with green spandex, orange leg-warmers, and a jounin vest). Iruka rolled his eyes and set it carefully on the dresser next to him.

The Chuunin reached the closet and slid the door open, dropping his pack onto the floor and pulling out the contents. All of the green uniforms in Gai's closet (seriously, he must have had thirty or forty of them) went into the backpack. _What on earth does he do with all these??? Change several times a day?_ Iruka shook his head, bemused, and pulled out the replacement item, hanging it in the closet and twisting the note on it so that the writing was clearly visible. Then he shouldered the backpack and made his way back out of the room and through the window.

He tossed the backpack up over the edge of the roof and pulled the pair of kunai out, letting the trap wires spring back in place.

Kakashi started when the black figure emerged from the darkened room. _Did he really manage to…?_ Even in the shadowed night, he saw Iruka give him a thumbs-up. _Way to go, Iruka!_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Iruka picked up the papers and tapped them gently on the desk in the mission room to straighten them out. Life in the mission room had gotten much more sedate now that Genma knew about Iruka's boyfriend. Unfortunately for Iruka, Genma decided to ask for advice about his own love life, now that he knew that Iruka was not only successful, but also leaned the same way. Luckily for Iruka, Genma had fallen asleep about an hour ago and didn't show any signs of waking up. The Chuunin yawned hugely and contemplated just telling Raidoh about Genma's affection; honestly, he would do just about anything to end the bouts of holding-forth on Raidoh's great characteristics and how Genma didn't deserve him, etc.

As he stretched his arms back over his head, Iruka sighed and thought about falling asleep in the chair. He'd been awake for far too many hours this morning (especially since Kakashi hadn't let him go back to sleep after the raid on Gai's house…). Startled yelps and whistles broke him out of his reverie.

The door to the mission room flew open, the glow from the sun outside framing the figure in the door. Iruka looked up and almost swallowed his tongue. Gai was standing in the doorway in a full, French maid's outfit. Complete with fishnet stockings and black heels. He stretched his arm out, holding forth the note Iruka had left for him.

Genma woke with a start as the door to the mission room slammed open, and he gapped at the vision in black and lace, then rubbed his eyes several times, either to check if he was awake or to scrape the image off his corneas. Then he shook himself out of his trance long enough to scribble a note on the top of one of Iruka's papers.

_-Is this why you didn't want us to tell him??-_

Iruka couldn't even write; he was shaking so badly from suppressed laughter. It didn't help that Gai was trailing a large group of Chuunin, Jounin and even a few of the older Genin.

After lowering his head and regaining his composure, Iruka folded his hands together and looked up at the 'dressed-up' Jounin, "Gai-sensei. If you think you're going to find out who I'm dating, you'll have to wait." Iruka paused for effect. "I believe if you read the note, it says you have to wear it for one day." He noticed Genma out of the corner of his eye as the Jounin dropped his head into his arms, trying to keep Gai from noticing that he was laughing at him.

"I AM AWARE OF THE STIPULATIONS OF THIS CONTEST, IRUKA-SENSEI! I MERELY WANTED TO INFORM YOU THAT I WILL UNDERGO ANY HUMILIATION TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE TRULY IN THE CORRECT RELATIONSHIP TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!" With that, Gai spun on one blocky heel and strode out through the crowd that had gathered around the mission room door. He paused in the midst of them and turned back flashing a sparkling smile at Iruka and giving him the standard Gai-thumbs-up. "I WILL RETURN WHEN THE SUN SETS!"

As the door swung shut again, Iruka burst into laughter, sliding out of his chair and onto the floor. Genma leaned back in his chair, whipping tears from his face and gasping for air. "You told him if he wore that around all day, you'd tell him who you're dating."

Iruka scrubbed his hands across his face, "We didn't think he'd actually do it…. But I guess we didn't give him much of a choice…."

The door swung open again, and Kurenai staggered in, clutching a small object to her chest. She took a minute to stop giggling, then waved the silvery object at Iruka. "I…" She giggled, "I have pictures. Iruka, how did you pull this off???"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Around midday, Iruka scrambled up to the roof around the Hokage's office. Thankfully, the Hokage seemed to have gotten his yelling quota out of the way earlier in the morning, and neither he nor Kakashi had been summoned back to be yelled at again. However, Iruka was awash in congratulatory notes, high-fives, and a few shouts from across the courtyard. In the end, standing through five minutes of getting screamed at in the Hokage's office was a small price to pay for the ridiculousness that had ensued today and the pictures that Kurenai promised to copy. Underneath all the other notes on his desk, he'd found one that asked him to come up to the roof over lunch. The Chuunin cleared the edge of the roof, only to have a steaming bowl of ramen waved underneath his nose.

"Care to join me?" The single visible eye was squeezed closed from the happy smile hidden beneath his mask. "There's quite a show going on down there."

Iruka gladly took the ramen and settled down next to Kakashi, leaning against his partner's side. The peaceful scene lasted for about two minutes before Iruka almost snorted ramen out of his nose. Kakashi was lucky, having gobbled down his lunch in a few short seconds, he was spared the dangers of food out-the-nose. He did, however, chuckle maniacally from watching the scene play out below them.

Gai strode purposefully through the town, completely ignoring his own rather bizarre clothing. Rock Lee followed closely behind in a similar outfit that looked like it had been cobbled together from black sheets and perhaps some pieces of someone's curtains. Tenten and Neji followed much farther behind, and Tenten hid behind her teammate's sleeve, hoping that no one would see her and associated her with her sensei.

A very wide path cleared around the blue beast and his team. Most of the people around them covered their mouths to keep from guffawing in Gai's face; some parents reached down to cover their children's eyes. Iruka honestly could say that he didn't blame them since he wasn't sure he was ever going to get the image out of his mind. He had a sneaking suspicion that it would recur in dark nightmares.

"This is _definitely_ worth it."

Iruka snickered at the dark, manipulating tone in Kakashi's voice.

"Maaa, who'd have thought you had such a dark side."

"Oh, I'm a rebel." Kakashi burst into laughter, and Iruka faked a hurt expression. "Hey, now, you should have seen me when I was a student. Teachers dreaded having me in their classes."

"And look at how far you've fallen…"Kakashi grinned at him.

"Hey! You started dating me before you knew about this whole shady past thing."

"Maaa," Kakashi held up both hands, easing away from his partner. "That doesn't mean I can't enjoy it."

A single dark eyebrow arched upwards.

OOOOOOOOOO

At the end of the day, Iruka was back at the mission desk, sliding low in his chair and studying the gorgeous sunset through the window. He surreptitiously checked his watch and then drummed his fingers on the table. At least five more minutes before Gai would show up, and they would get to see his expression when he found out the truth. After stretching his arms upwards, Iruka swiveled in his chair and check the trigger wires that were connected to the camera behind the mission desk. Everything was set.

The door snapped open, slamming against the inside wall, and was immediately filled with black cloth, lace, fishnet, and a sparkling smile. "IRUKA-SENSEI! I HAVE COMPLETED THE MODERN CHALLENGE YOU GAVE TO ME, AND I DESIRE MY ANSWER SO THAT I CAN VERIFY THE WORTHINESS OF YOUR SUITOR."

Iruka looked at him blankly, then raised a single finger and pointed behind the Jounin. _And ready camera…._ Everything seemed to slow down as Gai turned to look behind him. Iruka was slightly distracted by the flouncing bow that swept by his face as the other man spun around.

And saw his eternal rival leaning against the wall behind him, Icha Icha raised in front of his face, and his body arranged into his customary, bored slouch. "Yo."

Time stopped for several seconds.

Suddenly, the chair disappeared from under Iruka's butt, and he realized that he was no longer behind the dubious safety of the mission desk. He tried desperately to open his eyes, but was finding it hard to focus on moving his muscles due to lack of oxygen flowing to his brain. A strong bicep sticking out from under a poofy, lacey cap sleeve was wrapped tightly around his throat, holding him slightly off the ground as Gai carried on about the glory of love. Iruka was, needless to say, not paying much attention to what Gai was spouting since he was more worried about imminent death from strangulation. His fingers scrambled against Gai's arm, and just before darkness closed around his eyes, Gai released him, dropping him straight onto the floor.

Only to snatch up Kakashi in a much similar grasp. "MY ENTERNAL RIVAL!" Gai had tears of joy streaming down his face. "I WOULD NEVER HAVE BELIEVED THAT YOU COULD FIND INFINITE HAPPINESS." Kakashi fished a kunai out of his pouch and bashed Gai on the head with it, and the blue beast finally let him go. Kakashi smoothed Icha Icha back out, since it had been crumpled between his side and Gai's chest when he was snatched up.

Gai gave his head a shake to clear it from the impact Kakashi'd given him. Thankfully, Kakashi'd managed to completely derail his train of thought. Gai looked puzzled for a second, then looked at the two men across from him as Kakashi pulled Iruka up off the floor, and a soft smile crossed his face. "I am sorry, Iruka-sensei. I should have know that you would not chose someone unworthy of you. And if anyone in this humble village is worthy, " Gai bowed slightly, "My eternal rival. I am truly happy for both of you."

The whole speech would have been much more touching if a wind hadn't swirled through the room and lifted up the incredibly short skirt of the maid's outfit, showing without a doubt that Gai did indeed go commando underneath his clothes.

Iruka eeked, turned bright red, and buried his face in Kakashi's shoulder. Kakashi just shook his head in disbelief, mainly because Gai did not seem to be phased by it at all.

Gai spun on one of his high heels, shouting, "I MUST GO PROCLAIM THE BEAUTY OF THIS UNION TO THE ENTIRETY OF THE VILLAGE1" And flounced out of the room.

Kakashi looked down at where Iruka still had his head buried in his shoulder. "Have…have you ever pranked Gai before?"

The brown ponytail swung back and forth as Iruka shook his head. "That didn't go at all as I planned." He muttered.

Kakashi chuckled. "Well, look at it this way, we still managed to get Gai-san to parade around the village in that outfit all day." Then he paused and shuddered. "Although I could have done without the view we got a few seconds again." He had to laugh at the meeping noise the Iruka made at the mention of that.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Gai burst through the door of the lounge, still in his costume, and struck his 'nice guy' pose in front of the Jounin who were in there. "I COME BEARING THE GREAT NEWS OF IRUKA-SENSEI AND KAKASHI-SAN!"

Kurenai looked up at him, puzzled. "What? That they're dating?"

Gai paused in the process of opening his mouth to shout more, and gapped down at the female Jounin. "You…you know?"

Genma stepped in from behind him. "Of course we know."

Gai smoothed his hands down the front of the dress and stared down at the frills and lace. Then looked back up at the others. "You know?!" The end of the sentence came out several octave higher than the beginning. Gai looked down at the dress again, blushed a dark scarlet and fled the room. Kurenai stared after him, waited for the door to swing shut, then burst into laughter, falling onto Asuma's shoulder.

"Did you see his face?" Genma gasped. "Brilliant!"

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Iruka shoved the door of his classroom open, stretching his arm back to hold the door open for Kakashi. It was early in the morning, before classes started, and the two of them had just left the break room after grabbing mugs of coffee. It always made Kakashi think of the first time he'd actively tracked Iruka down, and they'd had coffee together. It was their habit now to pick up coffee and sit in Iruka's classroom before school.

As he slid into the chair, Iruka pushed his papers to the side of the desk, fishing out a coaster to set his mug on. Kakashi put his cup right on top of one of the piles of paper, and Iruka groaned and moved it onto another coaster, the same way he did every morning. As he moved the coaster, Iruka noticed a small manila folder tucked in under one of his pictures. He slid it out and slowly peeled it open.

Kakashi looked up from Icha Icha when he noticed the strange motion. "What's that?"

"I'm not sure." He slid out a note, which read. 'Nicely done. I never thought I'd ever see Gai embarrassed. Thank you for taking him down a peg.' Iruka flipped the note over and showed it to Kakashi.

"Who do you think?" Kakashi asked, taking the note and scrutinizing the writing. It looked familiar, but he couldn't place it.

OOOOOOOO

Outside Iruka's classroom, the Sandaime quietly lit his pipe and puffed on it a couple of times. He looked in through the open door at the Jounin and Chuunin who were leaning over the desk with their heads together, both puzzling over the writing trying to figure out who had sent it. The Sandaime shook his head, adjusted his hat, and strode off down the hallway, chuckling.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Whew. It's done, finally. Again, sorry sorry sorry about the wait to everyone who was waiting. I got swamped by a pantload of work and only just found time to finish. Also, sorry about this chapter. The plot bunnies really deserted me, so if it doesn't measure up to the rest of the story, forgive me.

Please, please, please (begging…can you tell?) review. I live off the sustenance of reviews and it inspires me to write.

I'm also going to write another sequel to this, but it's going to be mainly serious. It's going to be called 'Running for Life," and I'll put another chapter on this when I post the first one of that.

Again, please review even if you think it sucks, I am well aware that I need constructive crit.

Until next time,

sunlight through leaves


	5. Sequels

There's a sequel! It's called 'Running for Life' (and a prequel called 'Running Into Each Other,' but if you haven't read that, I'm sure this one was a little confusing) A little more serious, but it should be good. Check it out!!

Sunlight through leaves 


	6. And more sequels

New sequel called 'Running Late' Check it out! It's a sweet, oneshot, that I hope you enjoy. 


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